The Cloak of Levitation Plays Matchmaker
by Diflorna
Summary: The Cloak shows up in Tony's kitchen.


Tony was making himself some coffee when he hit his mug with his elbow, making it fall from the counter. Now, Tony prided himself for having very good reflexes, which would be in the official requirements to be Iron Man if there were any. So, naturally he made a move to grab the mug before it crashed in the tiles. But it did crash. Not because of his speed to reach it, but because he caught something red and big right next to him that appeared suddenly and made him jump in his feet.

He took a step back and his armor appeared on him, almost as fast as he had tried to reach the mug. Facing so many dangers throughout the years made him perfect the speed on which it could be put on. When he saw what had startled him, his eyes widened a little. Stephen Strange's Cloak of Levitation, right there at an arm's reach in all its splendor. Velvety red cloth, magically billowing above the ground.

"Strange?" Tony said aloud, not taking his eyes off the relic. There was no sign of the sorcerer. "Fri, is Stephen Strange in the building?" He asked his AI. It wouldn't be exactly weird for Stephen to show up unannounced, but he never sent his cloak before appearing himself first.

"No, sir. Would you like me to call him?" F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered, right away. Tony took a second to think about his answer. He walked a little, surrounding the cloak, admiring it. He never had any opportunity to watch it this close. He could appreciate how soft it seemed to be, how unnatural it looked hovering over the floor like that, as if someone invisible was wearing it. Tony stopped walking. He took a step back, just in case. He didn't like magical things, he didn't understand them. And he was used to do that. Or at least getting to understand them very quickly if he was really interested. In the case of magic, he didn't even know someone who could explain it to him. Stephen didn't count, he refused to give Tony any explanation. But since the mysterious aura was part of his appeal, Tony didn't mind that much, most of the time.

Suddenly, the idea that its owner might be in danger and had sent the cloak to ask for help occurred to him. Immediately, ordered his AI to make the call. Tony could admire the cloak later. If Strange really was in danger helping him was the priority. Besides, if Tony helped him, he might have a chance in trying to persuade the other man to lend him the cloak to examine it more closely. It had never worked before, though.

"Stark." Answered the wizard after a few seconds in which Tony's throat contracted a the prospect of really having to go rescue the other man.

"Dr. Handsome." Tony replied, half relieved to hear the other man's voice and half amused to think of the face of sheer annoyance that Strange was probably making.

"The very same." Strange answered solemnly and Tony chuckled. He still had his eyes on the cloak, which remained in the same place and position. He didn't feel threatened anymore, if he was being honest with himself. Ans Stephen didn't sound as if his life was in danger. "What do you want? I'm busy."

For a wild second, he thought of playing it off as if he were just checking up on Stephen as a friend, it wouldn't be something new. He could examine the cloak and then tell Stephen, right? Not like he would mess with a magical object or anything, he just wanted to touch it and try and figure out how it worked. Because honestly, how a piece of cloak could levitate, fight and grab things?

"If your life is not in immediate danger and if any of your superhero friends can help you, I'm sure it can wait. I really am busy." Said Strange, and Tony could definitely hear weird noises in the other side of the line.

"I have a question about your cloak." Tony said, while trying to catch on more sounds coming from the place Stephen was in. It sounded as if lots of frogs were croaking. "What the hell are you doing?" There was a second of silence.

"What about the cloak?" Stephen sounded genuinely curious, which made Tony more curious in turn. It wasn't the very first time Tony tried to get information out of the other man about magical stuff during the two years they had known each other.

"Well, is it dangerous if you're not around?" Tony said. The croaking sounds were becoming louder and louder and Stephen was breathing as if he had just came back from a run, which Tony found very odd because the other man always seemed so calm and collected. "Hey man, do you need any help in there? I literally have the suit put on right now. Are those frogs?"

"No… It's not dangerous. The cloak, I mean. Why?" Stephen answered. "And not, there are not frogs. And I don't need help, I'm just picking up something I need for... something."

"It's paying me a visit. It appeared out of nowhere, right in my kitchen." Tony replied. "So what, is it out of control or something like that? Can I least take the helmet off so I can resume my breakfast?"

"You… What? Why would… Oh…" Tony patiently listened Stephen think, leaving paths of his train of thought with that deep voice that always grabbed Tony's attention. "Yes, it is safe. You can take the whole suit off if you want. I'll be at your house in… an hour, more or less. I'm terribly sorry." And he hung up.

Tony took a moment to decide if he did feel comfortable taking off his armor in the presence of this magical, mysterious, ancient thing. At the end, he decided that if the Master of the Mystic Arts said that the piece of cloth wasn't going to try to kill him, he must be right. He could put on his suit in an instant if needed, anyway.

"So… Do you speak to Stephen while you two are alone or something like that?" Tony said while pouring coffee in a new mug, taking care to not turn his back to the hovering cloak. He took a sip, slowly. He really wanted to touch it. He figured that Stephen knew him enough to know that Tony would want to do it. It was no secret, after all. Since the beginning of their friendship the engineer had made numerous questions to Strange, who hadn't answered not even half of them. And if his touch would bother the cloak, the sorcerer would have told him. And because Tony's curiosity was one of his more prominent personality traits and because he was used to get what he wanted, he deposited the mug in the counter and reached out.

It was really soft. And smelled strongly of Stephen, Tony noticed. He let his fingers wonder through the fabric, feeling amazed. It truly was something else, there was a sort of force that attracted him to it. He guessed that's how magic felt like. He stepped even closer, surrounding himself into the aroma and magic of the cloak that remained levitating. It wasn't covering him, but nearly.

Tony noticed a very subtle movement that he hadn't produced and immediately took a step back. And slowly, very gently, one of the ends of the cloth was reaching out to Tony's arm. He was mesmerized by the action. His heart was beating fast and the hairs of his arms stood up, but a feeling of warmth surrounded him. Soon, the fabric was touching his skin and he released a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. The cloak was caressing his arm and he was letting it do it because it felt nice, gentle. Tony let out a small laugh because of the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Okay buddy, I'm glad you like me." He told the cloak, still chuckling. He didn't have a clue of what he was doing. But considering that now the cloak was caressing his fingers, he thought that it might understand him. "Let's do another thing before this gets weird, okay?"

Tony looked around without knowing what to do for a couple of seconds, then he looked at his sweatpants. "I'm gonna get changed." He knew he was an attractive man, but if Strange was going to pay him a visit soon he needed to look better than that.

He tried to walk a few steps towards the exit of the gigantic kitchen, but the cloak gently grabbed his wrist. Tony looked at it and felt the urge to pet as if it were a puppy. "C'mon Cloakie, don't be like that. After I get a change of clothes we can… do… something. Like watching TV."

Tony tried again, but the cloak's grip was firm. In the back of his mind, he knew he should be getting nervous. But the smell, the warmth, the soft texture and something else in the air made him feel safe and calm. He even went along with it when the relic started to move and to guide him towards the living room. "Are you trying to show me something?" He asked, curiosity bubbling up.

The cloak, of course, didn't answer. When they reached the coach, it moved its ends in a sort of motion to indicate Tony to take a sit. Or at least that's what he thought the movement meant. He was puzzled. The cloak deposited itself in the other side of the coach. "Alright, okay, this is getting a bit weird now."

The relic didn't move again, it was just laying there, next to him. Tony stared at it for a few more moments. He was trying to remember all the information he had learned about it in the past three years. He knew that the cloak was the one that made Stephen fly, even though it looked like the man did it himself and the object just was a decorative element that moved with the wind and made him look graceful and mighty. He also knew that it was a very ancient relic that had been guarded for many, many years. Suddenly, he remembered something that the sorcerer had told him a few months back.

Tony stood up very slowly, testing the waters. The cloak didn't move from its position for a few seconds, so the man gave a couple of small steps towards the door. Immediately after that, the cloak started levitating again and stopped in front of him. He moved again, and the relic followed. He did the same a number of times, with the same result.

"Are you trying to get me to adopt you? Is that it?" He stared at the object which seemed to billow slightly. "You've grown tired of Stephen or what?"

He remembered what Strange had told him about how he got the cloak in the first place. He didn't mention many details, as always, but he did tell Tony how the relic just started to follow him around. How it put itself on him and never left his side. What if that was it? It left Stephen to go with Tony, right? Even when Stephen was on a sort of mission at the moment. Maybe that's why he felt so enthralled. But, actually, he had always been fascinated by it.

He wasn't sure about his little theory, though. Of course not. He felt a rush of irritation, just like every time he thought about how little he knew about Stephen's world in spite of the interest he always showed about it. During one night of late coffee drinking in Tony's apartment, Stephen told him that there was certain knowledge that had to be protected at all costs and only had to remain among those who practiced mystical arts. He understood that, but the lack of answers pissed him off nevertheless.

He tentatively raised one hand, and the cloak immediately caressed his fingers. He didn't even know where to look for answers. And since he had to wait until Stephen came anyway, he figured he should go along with hypothesis A, because he had nothing better to do.

"I'm flattered but, I don't think a billowing cloak would exactly go well with the Iron Man suit." Tony said, with a nervous smile on his face. "Or maybe it would, I haven't thought of that before."  
He shook his head and took a few steps back. "Listen buddy, magic is not really my thing. It's Stephen's. And you're awesome, really, but if you want what I think you want, it's not going to work out."

"No, it wouldn't." Tony heard Stephen's deep voice and couldn't fight giving a little jump. The other man scared him shitless and one of Iron Man's repulsor was already prepared to fire on his hand. Tony felt a little proud of the efficiency of the suit.

"Stephen, what the fuck, I could literally kill you. How many times have I told you to-" Tony said, turning around to face him. The words died in his throat at the sight of his friend. The man was covered in something green and slimy and had a few cuts on his face. Despite that, he had a smile and a fond look.

"It hasn't adopted you as its new master." Stephen walked towards him, making a hand movement that immediately cleaned his skin and clothes, and Tony thought it was just unfair. "Relics only choose one master and follow them until the day they die."

"Well, if you cared to explain things to me I wouldn't have looked like an idiot for the past minutes." Tony answered crossing his arms on his chest. Stephen walked towards the cloak and it immediately left Tony's side and went with him. "It really did look as if he liked me, though."

"It doesn't have a mind of its own or feelings." Stephen answered, walking towards Tony's kitchen. The smaller man, of course, followed him. If Tony hadn't been so curious, he would have taken into account the warmth that spread over his chest while seeing the other man move so casually around his house.

"So it's not as if you two are partners? Because I've seen it helping you on battle." Tony leaned on the counter next to Stephen, who served himself a cup of coffee. One of Tony's domestic little robots had already cleaned the mess from earlier. "Or when you say that you're its master you mean you give orders to it or something like that?"

"No and no." Stephen answered and turned to his left to face Tony. The Avenger knew the expression he was making. It was as though Stephen was considering options or making decisions, but the way his blue greenish eyes bore into Tony's honey ones made him realize that he was considering him. Then, he apparently made a choice. "It acts depending on my will. It helps me get what I want."

"But how does it work? Without a mind, how does it know what to do?" Tony asked getting closer to him, wanting to have a better look of the cloak, as if he suddenly could figure out the way of working of a magical relic. Stephen smiled at him with a fond look that made him feel light-headed.

"Well, I'm not completely sure about that. I'm not even half through deciphering all the spells that were cast on it." Stephen answered and Tony felt a bubble of something in his chest. Right in front of him was a man so powerful that could open portals to different dimensions, do literal spellwork and project his astral form whenever he wanted. Tony felt overwhelmed and so fortunate to share a friendship with him. "It would take me many years of study, I believe, to comprehend what makes it work."

And suddenly they were staring at each other's eyes in a way that Tony knew made Peter blush and Pepper smirk if they were around to see them like that. Tony could see affection and so much openness in Stephen's eyes and it was, honestly, so rare. As far as Tony was aware, Stephen only directed that look at him. He wondered if the other man was aware of it. He also wondered if Stephen was aware of many other things that happened between them.

"So that's why it can strangle inter-dimensional baddies and evil witches? Because even if it doesn't have a brain, knows what to do to help you win?" Tony took a very little, tiny step towards Stephen. His heart beating hard in anticipation. Stephen nodded. "And that's why it sometimes shields civilians or teammates, because you want them to be safe."

Stephen didn't answer to that because it really wasn't a question. But the way he deposited his half drank coffee mug on the counter and turned completely towards Tony, did respond to his proximity. The billionaire had taken a step towards him and resulted in them being a little too close. Tony didn't say anything, waiting to see the other's man reaction. Stephen was looking at him attentively, a soft smile on his face.

During the last three years, the engineer had dropped hints and innuendos to Stephen millions of times. That's how he acted if he was interested in someone. That's how he acted towards Rogers for a brief period of time or with Pepper at one point in the past. But when he was really interested, things changed. He was more subtle. And that was the case with Stephen Strange. And in Tony's book, when you got to the point when you can silently stare at someone's eyes for more than ten seconds without making it weird, standing close is subtle.

"Then why did it came to me, Doctor?" He whispered. He felt his cheeks burn and, shit, he hadn't blushed in ages. "It certainly wasn't trying to get me to help you as Iron Man in whatever you were doing."

Stephen lowered his gaze from Tony's eyes for a second, resting them on his lips. That and the intensity of his gaze gave Tony the signals he had been waiting for. "Like I said, it follows my will and helps me get I want. I don't understand its actions, sometimes, but it always makes the right choices." Tony was holding his breath as he heard Stephen's beautiful voice also whispering. "It could be fight, shield or even make… intentions…. clear to others."

Tony closed the space that separated them slowly, as if they had all the time of the world, while tilting his head backwards slightly so that their mouths could touch comfortably. He had always pictured that kissing Stephen would make him feel as an inexperienced teenager, making out with someone older and much cooler. But when their lips met softly and tenderly, he felt an immense sense of belonging. It was thrilling and wonderful, but also felt like home. And when the kiss deepened and felt one of Stephen's hand on his waist and the other on his jaw, he felt so connected with him.

"Intentions clear, Doc."Tony said, smiling, while he pressed their foreheads together.


End file.
